


Soothe Away The Storm

by TheMalhamBird



Series: MalhamBird's Cabinet of Curiosities (Fic Longer Than 500 Words, Probably Less Than 1000 Words) [1]
Category: Richard II - Shakespeare
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23430373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMalhamBird/pseuds/TheMalhamBird
Summary: When the King of England wakes up in a foul mood, everyone is liable to suffer  . Really, kissing the storm clouds off the royal brow ought to be considered an act of service- it's certainly a task Aumerle has no problem doing.
Relationships: Bagot/Bushy/Green/Richard II, Edward 2nd Duke of York | Duke of Aumerle/Richard II of England
Series: MalhamBird's Cabinet of Curiosities (Fic Longer Than 500 Words, Probably Less Than 1000 Words) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685506
Kudos: 5





	Soothe Away The Storm

**Author's Note:**

> I am starting to transfer the fics and snippets from my Tumblr account across to Ao3 so that they’re findable. The fic below is one of them and may have been written at any point between 01/04/2020 and sometime during 2018…

The King is not in the best of moods.  
There’s been an undercurrent to the atmosphere in Court all day, storm clouds gathering in the corridors. No one knows why. Green says he just got out on the wrong side of bed. Bushy frowns. “He got out the same side of bed he normally gets out of- crawled straight off the end.”   
Green rolls his eyes. Aumerle chuckles. Bagot slings an arm around Green’s neck and plants a fond kiss on his cheek before jumping up to hunt for the foul tasting rose sweets Richard keeps hidden because- for some reason- Bushy, Bagot and Green like them and keep pinching them . “Maybe the Queen will cheer him up,” he says hopefully, because it’s mid-afternoon and Richard and Isabelle have vanished in to the gardens for their usual walk and the young Queen can normally bring a smile to Richard’s face with her bright enthusiasm and her chatter, even on the worst days.  
Today, apparently, is worse than the worst days. Not only is Richard not in a better mood when he comes back in, Isabelle is out of sorts as well, barely pausing to say hello before leaving to go lie down. She claims she has a headache. Richard throws himself a down and drinks an entire glass of wine without stopping for air and brooks no discussion except for affairs of state. It’s probably their most productive small council session in months as they hammer through paper after paper. It’s also the longest, and the least enjoyable. When they’ re finally dismissed- and it’s a very dismissive dismissal-they all make a hasty exit and leave the King to stew by himself.   
Bushy, Bagot, and Green mysteriously have other things to do after dinner that evening.   
Richard accepts their excuses with a curt wave of his hand, and they escape. Green pauses to press a quick kiss to Aumerle’s cheek and mutter ‘good luck’ in his ear. Aumerle squeezes his hand in thanks, then turns to the King, who’s half sitting half leaning on the end of his bed, staring at nothing with a decided tightness in his jaw. Aumerle weighs up the pros and cons of excusing himself for the night- he could easily say his father had need of him, and York won’t mind if he asked to spend to night. Richard won’t object. Aumerle could stand to spend a night listening to his father’s snores shake the bedposts and wondering how his mother wasn’t deaf yet, and in the morning the King’s mood might be better.   
Or it might be the same, or worse; Richard could sink in to one of his bouts of melancholy, and it could last weeks. And Aumerle doesn’t really want to leave him.  
It’s rare that he gets Richard to himself of an evening.   
He folded his arms and rubbed the back of his left ankle with the toe of his right boot. “Your Majesty?”   
Richard makes a non-committal noise and says nothing.   
Aumerle bites his lip and decides to take his life in to his hands.  
He walks up to the King of England, and cups his face in his hands, examining it carefully. Richard is beautiful, he thinks, every time he sees him. Even now, in a bad temper, his eyes are dark and stormy and they’re beautiful.  
“What are you doing?” Richard asks sharply.   
”Hold on,” Aumerle says, “there’s something on your face.” He presses his mouth to Richard’s, kissing him hard. Richard leans into it, wrapping an arm around his waist. “It was me,” he says, pulling back with a grin, and Richard sighs, leaning back on the bed and pulling Aumerle with him, rolling them on to their sides and hooking a leg around Aumerle’s hip.   
“You make me smile,” he murmurs.  
“Well I’m glad something does.” Aumerle says, tucking a strand of Richard’s hair back behind his ear. “What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing’s wrong.”  
“Oh please, Dickon.” the name slips off his tongue far too easily. It’s too easy to forget, in moments like these, that his cousin is also his King. “You’ve been in a foul mood all day; the Court’s been treading on eggshells since you hurled the crown at Uncle Gloucester’s head and stormed out of the hall at breakfast!”  
“Yeah, well. Uncle Gloucester deserved it. He’s annoying.” Richard winds himself more tightly around Aumerle’s body. “Will you have sex with me?”  
“Mmmmmonly if you tell me why talking with your mouth full is suddenly an offence worthy of crown-hurling.” Aumerle says, pressing himself against Richard, kissing the tip of his nose. Richard sighs, smiling wryly.   
“I woke up dreaming I was still ten. My whole reign ahead of me, with no mistakes or mess-ups…Harry and I were still close, I’d have trusted any of my Uncle’s with my life and Sir Simon wasn’t…and then I woke up properly and it sucked.”  
“I’m sorry,” Aumerle says.   
“No,” Richard says. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault, it wasn’t fair…” he exhales. “Bad moods are not to be taken out on friends; I’ll remember that next time.”  
“No, you won’t.”  
“No, I won’t.” Richard agrees, “Why do you put up with me?”  
“Well…” Aumerle pause, frowning with mock concentration. “You’re really, really, really gorgeous,” he said, and kisses Richard again as they both laugh, and roll about on the bed.


End file.
